SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The Springfield Police Department spent Monday and Tuesday hosting K9s from all over Oregon; it was all part of the state’s annual training exercises.

Police departments brought their canine units to Springfield for training exercises. It may have looked like fun and games for the dogs, but police say it’s serious business.

Officers say police units are using dogs more and more to help them track suspects.

The dogs came to train in different exercises, including search and even some water training.

While most people think of the attack drills when they think of police dog training, handlers say that the dogs’ sense of smell is really what helps law enforcement.

It can be a rough couple days, but officers say it’s worth it.

“You want your dogs out here doing this training because you want the best dogs on the street. When you gotta go catch that super bad guy, you don’t want guys that aren’t training, you want guys that are ready to,” said Kristi Butcher, police officer with the Portland Police Department.

While it’s a busy two days for these canine companions, the training exercises are really just the tip of the iceberg.